Sword Art Online: Re:Designed
by A New Username
Summary: After witnessing the death of her closest friends, Kiriko swears vengeance on the people who killed them. Her rage slowly consumes her until she kills any orange player she sees. Deeming this "Killer of Killers" a growing threat, the lead group tries to capture her. Little do they know that the very person they're looking for is right under their nose. (AU, DarkFemKirito/Sinon)
1. Chapter 1: Killer of Killers

Sword Art Online: Re:Designed

Chapter One: Killer of Killers

* * *

**Author's Note**

**Okay, I know you guys are going to be mad at me for publishing another new story. Rest assured, however, for **_**Gun Gale Online: The Swordswoman**_** and **_**Shoot to Thrill, Swing to Kill**_** are both making notable progress. The former is being slower, but it should speed up soon.**

**So, a little info on this story that you should know before beginning to read.**

**First off, as per the usual for me, Kirito will be a girl in this. Her real-life name will be "Kimiko", and her in-game name will be "Kiriko" (Coming from the "Kiri" in Kirigaya and the "ko" in Kimiko, of course).**

**Next up, the personality of Kimiko will be **_**drastically **_**altered in this story. The chapter title should give you enough of a clue.**

**In addition, and this won't be much of a shocker to all of my followers, but this story is **_**yuri**_**, meaning girl/girl, femslash, whatever you want to call it. The pairing should be obvious by the character settings, so I won't say it outright.**

**And finally, the game mechanics for SAO will be altered as well. First off, you can only start out with one of a few weapons. They all unlock different types when you get to certain levels of mastery, so you can branch off into your preferred build when you meet the prerequisites. Thus, there are no Unique Skills involving weapons. There are other things, too, but those will be explained as the story moves forward.**

**Well, I guess that's all you need to know for now! I'll see you below!**

* * *

"_Please, spare me!" the man, clad in black armor reminiscent of the darkest of nights, screamed. Paralyzed with fear, he could only watch as I slowly closed the distance between us, my swords of black and white gleaming menacingly in the dim torchlight of the dungeon._

_I hid my unease with a laugh akin to that of a madman, gripping the hilts of my blades tighter to quell the ceaseless shaking of my hands. What I was about to do – I knew it wasn't right, but I couldn't stop the urge from consuming me, despite my nervousness._

"_Like how you and your buddies spared the «Black Cats of the Full Moon»?"_

_These words rang loud and clear throughout the dungeon, shocking the man backed up against the wall before me. Feeling the anger consuming me, I felt the shaking in my hands cease, and all restraints start to fade._

"_You're… you're the clearer of that guild, Kiriko! You're the girl we lured away so that we could finish them off!"_

_I said nothing in reply, opting instead to close the rest of the distance between us. Just as I put both of my blades to his neck in a cross-like pattern, he spoke up again, shouting something that shocked me to the core._

"_Wait!" he screamed desperately. "We were hired to do it!"_

"_Oh?" I masked my surprise with a façade of cold curiosity. "And who might your employer be?"_

"_I don't know—AAH!"_

_I pressed my swords up against his neck, making red marks that signified HP damage. However, my cursor remained green; killing an orange player such as this one had no consequences. It was like some sick form of justice, in a way._

"_I'll ask one more time," I whispered, pressing my swords further into his neck. It wouldn't interfere with his ability to talk; not in this world, at least. "Who hired you?"_

"_Look, all I know is that they were an advocate for a member of the «Knights of the Blood»!" he shouted, making my eyes narrow. "His client said that the «Black Cats» were slowing you down, and that you were needed as a strong player!"_

_My eyes widened considerably. When he noticed the disbelief in my expression, he shouted out one last thing. "I swear, that's all I know! I'm not lying, please believe me!"_

"_Don't worry," I said softly, retracting my gleaming swords from his neck. "I believe you. But…"_

_That was the turning point. The day where I passed the point of no return. The day I killed my first player._

_I plunged both of my swords into his chest, putting them in the initial position to activate a «Sword Skill» from within him. "I can't have my revenge without getting my hands dirty."_

"_AAAAAAAAGH!"_

_The sound of shattering glass filled the dungeon._

* * *

I awoke with a start, sitting upright in bed and putting my hands to my spinning head. That same dream— no, that memory— kept replaying itself in my sleep, night after night. I could count on one hand the nights since the incident that I slept peacefully, and it had been almost six months already.

_Seven… since they were killed…_

I looked up at the cracked ceiling of my run-down house in «Algade», inspecting the fractures to get my mind off of the current subject. Though the entire building was an «Immortal Object», my small dwelling looked as if it had seen much better days. Of course, that's the way the system designed it, which is why it was so cheap to buy.

_I don't need a comfortable living space, anyway,_ I thought, casting my gaze to the sole window of my house. The morning light poured down onto the space right next to my bed, allowing me to see just enough to move around without bumping into anything. _Since I don't even come here that often._

I chose this small, crappy house not for its interior or the fact that it was incredibly hard to find (though that did help me out a bit), but for its prime location. Not thirty meters away from my small dwelling, a certain info broker had purchased an apartment, similar in quality to mine, to use as her base of operations. She didn't actually live there, of course; that would make it easy for her to be found by anyone who had a grudge against her.

In fact, I had been the first and only person she told about her real living space. She knew my lips would be sealed, since she had important info on me as well. She called it, "the law of equivalent exchange"; I called it copyright infringement on a twenty-year-old show. But I digress.

"I should probably get up…" I whispered to myself, yawning loudly as I got out from under the covers. "I've got a long day of dungeon-mapping ahead."

My face darkened as I remembered what would come after I finished mapping for the day. "That's right… she gave me info on a PK guild's base location."

_And so, I'll kill them. All of the red players in that base… they'll be dead before tomorrow morning._

* * *

"And you're sure this info is accurate?"

These words escaped my lips without a second thought. All heads in the room turned to me, looks of disbelief written on their faces. I heard one of them mutter something akin to, 'Did she just question the accuracy of Argo's information?'

"Don't worry about it, everyone," the whiskered girl in the middle of the group dismissed, waving her hand to show she didn't care. "Sinon's new to the lead group, so her distrust of a beta-tester like me makes sense."

All heads returned their gazes to the auburn-haired info broker, whose laid back attitude had just effectively saved me from enduring any negative consequences for doubting her. She served as a vital piece of the lead group, apparently, for her ability to find impossible information about the game, even after the tenth floor, where the beta period ended.

"So, as I was saying," Argo continued on as if nothing had happened. "The «Killer of Killers» will be making an appearance tonight on floor thirty-seven, in the southwest part of the «Graveyard of the Royal» map.

"Now then, as you all know by now, I'm not just giving you this info," she informed us, looking at me directly. "I want you to do something about it."

"What do you want us to do?" I ended up asking after everyone remained silent for a little while.

"I want the lead group to form a team of strong players to capture him," Argo said, the whisker marks on her cheeks distorting slightly as she smiled. "A party of six of your best should suffice. When you've got him, bring him directly to me."

"You've got to be kidding me," I scoffed, ignoring the narrowed eyes of the rest of the people in the room. "Six people just to bring down one man? He can't be that strong."

"But he is," the info broker countered, giving me a more stern expression. It seemed she had finally gotten fed up with my doubts. "I saw him once, when he was trying to kill a strong orange player. He has the kind of strength I've never seen before."

Something about the way she said that bothered me, though I chose not to say anything else, as I could already see looks of astonishment coming from everyone in the room. No one had been so blunt to Argo before, or at least, not in that way—that's what I gathered from their expressions.

"If you want to see his power first hand, Sinon," she continued, a smug look on her face. "Then we can put you on the team. An archer such as yourself would be a good addition, and you're the best at what you do."

I weighed my options carefully. I could either reject her offer and suffer even more bad blood with the lead group that I had just become a part of, or I could go and risk my life against whom she was making out to be the strongest player in the game.

_But even then, it's six against one,_ I tried to inwardly reassure myself. _What am I afraid of?_

"Okay, I'll go."

And with that, the meeting continued as if nothing had happened.

* * *

By the time the sun set, I had just made my way into the «Graveyard of the Royal», a map that continues to be one of the most dangerous maps, even more than twenty floors after it was discovered. It wasn't that the monsters themselves were particularly strong breeds. Actually, it was quite the opposite; the variety of monsters that appeared there were mostly weak breeds that would swarm you, should you attract their attention.

Why was it so dangerous? That was a commonly asked question amongst the players not of the front lines. There are several factors that play into the incredibly high risk of dying, just by being in the area.

The first— which could also be a big reward for the strongest players— was the insanely high spawn rate of the monsters in the area. It only took one minute for each monster slain to be replaced by another, and each different breed had some kind of attack to inflict the poison or bleed status. And, considering the other factors, this alone would make the area dangerous.

The second— which, again, could be helpful for the strongest, bravest players— was the «Spawn Change», a map feature that first appeared on the floor below the «Graveyard of the Royal». Certain maps would alternate between what kind of monsters would spawn in their perimeters, hence the name. Most «Spawn Change» maps followed a certain pattern, and also made sure to stay within the monster types of their floor. However, the «Graveyard of the Royal» was different, in the sense that the type of monsters that would spawn every hour or so was almost completely random. Most of the time, there would be weak breeds that could swarm and inflict status conditions. However, on very rare occasions, the types of monsters that spawned would be incredibly powerful. Thus, it was incredibly risky to stay there for very long without the «Hiding» skill equipped.

The third, and most dangerous, factor— one that made even the strongest players fear entering without being in a full party of six— was the level of the monsters. The levels themselves weren't set. In fact, the level of every monster that spawned would be at least five levels higher than that of the strongest player in the map. This, combined with all of the other factors, made for a map that almost everyone steered clear from.

The keyword there is, 'almost'. After all, with incredible risks, there must also be incredible rewards. Highly effective leveling rates, respawning treasure chests that contained weapons that stayed consistently better than the current weapon the player opening it has equipped… the list of amazing rewards for braving this area go on and on.

Which is exactly why it made sense for a PK guild to make its base of operations in the one area of the map where no monsters would spawn— the southwest corner. With that area as a base, they could effectively out-level and out-gear everyone else in the game, should they be brave enough to fight the monsters in the vicinity.

_I have to be on my guard…_

This thought constantly resounded throughout my mind as I sprinted towards the southwest area of the map. There was no telling how long this PK guild had been there, leveling in secret. They could be far superior to me in level, weapons and equipment. At the same time, they could be much weaker, should they have only moved their base to this area recently.

Whatever the case, I knew I had no option of stealthily taking them out one at a time— the coat I used at night to perform my runs, a boss drop known as «Killing Shadow», had an effect that kept me from using my «Hiding Skill». In exchange, the «Scout» passive effect of the coat maximized my «Searching» skill when I had both equipped. In addition, my attack was greatly boosted, and, as a tradeoff, my defense was set to zero. I had essentially become a glass cannon when I performed my night runs. But that was fine. I was much more accustomed to fighting humans than monsters, and I only fought the latter during the day, when I had a different coat equipped.

Thus, I had no choice but to recklessly charge in and slaughter the other murderers with my two swords.

Five minutes into my trek, and I finally found myself nearing my destination. Just up ahead, I could see the cursors of several players. In the dim light of the forest night, I couldn't make out the color from the current distance. I knew I had to get closer, but also that I needed to be careful— my «Hiding» skill had been disabled by my coat, so I could only get so close before they inevitably noticed my own cursor. If they were members of my target guild, then they probably had high-level «Searching» skills, like mine.

As I slowly closed in, I tried to formulate a plan of attack. There were six of them, so I couldn't be too careful. When I got within the distance to see their actual avatars, I found five members of the lead group, as well as someone I had never seen before.

_What the hell are they doing here?_ I thought, grimacing lightly. Then, I noticed that they were walking in the same direction as I. _Well, this complicates things…_

Looking at the cursors of the players in front of me one last time, I confirmed that they were all green. _I don't have to kill the PK guild today, anyway…_

But then, just as I turned to leave, I felt my foot step on something other than the ground, making a large _crunching_ sound. When I turned back to the players, I noticed all their eyes focused on me. _Not good for me._

With the hood of my «Killing Shadow» coat up, they couldn't see my face. As long as I didn't speak, they wouldn't find out who I was. Just before I turned to walk away, I noticed them walking towards me.

They reached me in a matter of seconds, they reached me, one of them tentatively saying, "We don't want to fight you. Just come with us and nothing will happen, we promise."

I turned to walk away, stopping when one of them grabbed my wrist. When I turned back to face the man, trying to tug my arm away, he tightened his grip. I knew what would happen if he tightened his grip even a fraction more, and it wouldn't be pretty for him. And yet, at the same time, I needed to pull away.

Speaking in the deepest tone I could muster, I tried to warn him. "Let go," I said, tugging at my arm one last time. "I don't want to hurt you."

When he tightened his grip to keep my arm in place, it happened. His cursor turned orange, his hand having gripped me hard enough to enact the «Crime Prevention Code».

The moment I saw his cursor change colors, I felt something within me snap. I heard the sound of a woman's scream in my head, and when I returned my mind to the situation at hand, all I could feel were instincts. To kill or be killed.

And, of course, I chose to kill.

In a flash, I ripped my arm from the man's grasp, drawing both of my swords from the scabbards on my back and slicing them through his torso without a second thought. He screamed in agony, but this didn't stop me as I continued to slice through him with my swords of white and black. I was past the point of feeling remorse, feeling any kind of negative emotion about killing orange players. No matter what they did, as soon as I saw their cursors, I went completely berserk.

Within just a few seconds, the sound of shattering glass filled the area. The player that crossed the line had been killed, and my cursor remained green.

Looks of shock and anger reigned the faces of the five remaining players. In particular, the one I hadn't seen before in the lead group, an archer who held her bow in her right hand, seemed more fearful than the rest.

Another player soon came running at me, his one-handed curved sword raised high in preparation for an overhead strike. I easily sidestepped, having come back to my senses the moment the orange player had been killed. But if this person hit me with his blade…

_Then I'll snap again._

After several unsuccessful swings, my assailant made a scratch on my right shoulder with his curved sword. In an instant, his cursor turned orange, making my eyes go wild from inside the hood of my black coat.

"Big mistake," I whispered, immediately tearing straight through his abdomen with my right sword. I followed up with a vicious stab from my left, which I then dragged down through his middle, then back upwards and out through his head.

I plunged my right sword into his chest, draining the last of his HP and sending his avatar —and his soul— into oblivion. What ensued next was pure chaos.

Three of the four remaining players in the party all lunged at me, the archer being the only one to stay behind. Even she, however, had drawn an arrow from the container on her back, putting it on her bow string and preparing to strike me.

At this point, I had begun to succumb to the bloodlust inside me. I let each of the three charging players hit me once with each of their weapons, taking a whopping thirty percent of my HP away. It didn't matter, however; there wouldn't be anyone in the area to fight me soon enough.

The moment I saw each of their cursors turn orange, I activated an AOE skill unique to the two-sword build known as «Dual Blades».

«End Revolver»

With swords shimmering a vibrant green, I delivered a spin attack that hit them all at once, causing a cloud of dust to kick up and obscure their vision. The second hit ensued, making me reverse directions and hit them all at once again, this one landing double the damage of the first and inflicting them with a «Slow» status.

Once the split-second post-motion delay from my skill wore off, I delivered one last spin attack, hitting them all and kicking up another cloud of dust.

The sound of shattering glass filled the area once more.

* * *

"No way…"

These words escaped my gaping mouth in a hoarse whisper as I looked at the massive cloud of dust before me with wide eyes. I could see innumerable fragments of white and blue floating out of the cloud and into the night sky.

"He couldn't have… there's no way he could have killed them all… not so fast…"

Suddenly, my shock turned to rage. I had finally befriended a few members of the lead group, and they were all killed in but a few moments by this player… «_Killer of Killers», my ass! They never killed anyone before! He just destroyed them without a thought as soon as their cursors changed colors!_

Gritting my teeth, I waited patiently for the dust to clear and reveal the murderer's form. After a few seconds, when the dust finally cleared enough for me to see him, I noticed something very odd. Both of his swords were sheathed, and he was looking directly at me from under the hood of his cloak.

"Don't… don't mock me!" I shouted, pulling my arrow back on the bowstring of my bow. I put it in the position to activate a powerful stun skill, preparing to hit him with it, then unsheathe my dagger and kill him. Not only had he killed my new friends… he had also mocked me by putting his weapons away, as if I wasn't a threat—

"Don't do this," he said in what seemed to be a forced-low voice, putting his hands up in an attempt to appease me. "Don't hit me and become orange. I don't want to fight you."

My arrow dropped to the ground, the hand holding it having gone slack at the shock his words sent through me. My jaw dropped, and it was all I could do not to let my body drop as well.

As soon as the «Killer of Killers» noticed my weakness, he turned to walk away. "I'm sorry."

Those were the last words he said before slipping away into the night.

* * *

**Author's Note**

**So, what do you think? I know the POV switch between Kiriko and Sinon may be a bit confusing, but you'll get used to it eventually.**

**Anyway, I'd love to hear your thoughts on this story so far! For those of you who like it, I encourage you to leave a review telling me what you like. For those of you who dislike it, I encourage you to leave a review telling me just what you think needs working on.**

**I'll leave you for now, guys. You'll probably see me next in **_**Shoot to Thrill, Swing to Kill**_**, so I'll see you then! Until we next meet, let this disclaimer remind you of me.**

**I don't own it. Seriously, I don't. Give the hell up, Aniplex and Reki. It's obvious that I don't own the Sword Art Online light novel series, any of its adaptations, or anything I use from them, so just stop making me write these things telling everyone just that.**

**Without further ado, I'll see you next chapter!**

**Ciao!**


	2. Chapter 2: Road to Insanity

**Author's Note**

**This… just happened, didn't it? On a whim, I decided to check out what I had of this story, maybe make some more edits to add expression. And then, after that finished, I looked at the last few paragraphs (I was about eleven-hundred words in at the time), and I somehow found what to write next with ease.**

**And then it happened again, and again, until I had finished the chapter with over a thousand words more!**

**Honestly, I had been this close to giving up on this fic before this happened. And yet, something kept me looking at it periodically. Maybe it was the fact that this is probably the darkest, most morbid story I've written, almost like a novelty in comparison to my other works going at the time of the first chapter's publishing. But whatever it was, I'm glad I kept looking back at it!**

**Well, I don't want to hold you up any more than I already have, so I'll let you read on. Enjoy the show!**

* * *

Sword Art Online Re:Designed

Chapter Two: Road to Insanity

_"He couldn't have… there's no way he could have killed them all… not so fast…"_

_Suddenly, my shock turned to rage. I had finally befriended a few members of the lead group, and they were all killed in but a few moments by this player… _«Killer of Killers», my ass! They never killed anyone before! He just destroyed them without a thought as soon as their cursors changed colors!

_Gritting my teeth, I waited patiently for the dust to clear and reveal the murderer's form. After a few seconds, when the dust finally cleared enough for me to see him, I noticed something very odd. Both of his swords were sheathed, and he was looking directly at me from under the hood of his cloak._

_"Don't… don't mock me!" I shouted, pulling my arrow back on the bowstring of my bow. I put it in the position to activate a powerful stun skill, preparing to hit him with it, then unsheathe my dagger and kill him. Not only had he killed my new friends… he had also mocked me by putting his weapons away, as if I wasn't a threat—_

_"Don't do this," he said in what seemed to be a forced-low voice, putting his hands up in an attempt to appease me. "Don't hit me and become orange. I don't want to fight you."_

_My arrow dropped to the ground, the hand holding it having gone slack at the shock his words sent through me. My jaw dropped, and it was all I could do not to let my body drop as well._

_As soon as the «Killer of Killers» noticed my weakness, he turned to walk away. "I'm sorry."_

_Those were the last words he said before slipping away into the night._

* * *

The dimly-lit room, filled to the brim with strong members of the clearing group, had a dark atmosphere. Everyone turned their heads to me as I entered, my white and red «White Knight Jacket» the new brightest thing in the conference room. Everyone gave me a harsh look, making me wonder for a split second why they seemed so angry.

_Oh… that's right,_ I recalled the events of the night before, realizing exactly why they seemed angry with me. _They may not know it was me, but I killed five players last night. The fact that the me they know as one of the strongest clearers wasn't there to stop the «Killer of Killers»…_

"Look who finally arrived," one of them growled. The ire in his voice didn't go unnoticed by me, but I chose to ignore it.

"Since you missed out on yesterday's meeting, Kiriko," a certain whiskered information broker in the center of the room reminded, giving me a harsh look. "I'll fill you in on what you missed."

I could feel the intensity in her voice, causing me to gulp nervously. Soon enough, she began talking in her regular laid-back tone, making me inwardly sigh in relief— until I registered what she was saying.

"Yesterday, we had a meeting to discuss the capture of the «Killer of Killers»," she explained, looking at me with a strange expression, unreadable from under the hood of her russet leather cloak. "We sent a party of six, and all of them but one were annihilated. The survivor told us that this killer easily ended each one of them with two swords as soon as their cursors turned orange, for whatever reason."

I put on an emotionless mask that I had grown almost seven months prior, giving a response that shocked everyone in the room. "You're an idiot, Argo. You've told me just how powerful this guy is before. A single party wouldn't have been enough."

"Well, maybe if we had the «Speed of Light» Kiriko on the team, this killer wouldn't have gotten away with it."

This cold response, coupled with the death glare the whiskered info broker gave me, could only mean one thing. I had already been wary when she gave me the info of the PK guild out of the blue, but this confirmed it…

_She suspects me._

"Where's the survivor?" I queried, ignoring her obvious challenge as I looked around the room at the faces of the shocked clearers. They had never seen me fight with Argo before; we had always agreed with each other up until that point, and they knew we were both beta players. "I want to ask her a few questions."

Argo sighed at my question, pointing to a girl with dyed-blue hair at the edge of the room. "Take her in the room down the hall a bit," she continued, motioning her head towards a door to my left. "But be quick. We're having a boss meeting today, and I need both of you to be a part of the raid."

* * *

To say that I was nervous would be the understatement of the century. Here I was, being led to another room to be alone with the very person whose achievements had inspired me to level up and join the clearing group. It didn't matter that I was probably going to be interrogated pretty harshly. As long as I was helping out the player who had essentially become my idol in the game, I would answer anything she asked.

That said, I was still incredibly nervous. I could barely register the happenings around me as we walked down a hall in the «Thousand Eyes» headquarters, and only stopped walking once I heard Kiriko call out to me. When I came to my senses, I found that I had walked a meter past the room she stopped at.

I quickly walked back to the room my raven-haired idol had stopped in front of, an embarrassed blush staining my cheeks. Looking up to the sign above the entrance, I saw something that reminded me of the purpose she had for bringing me out of the meeting room.

_Interrogation Room_

Kiriko opened the door, holding it for me to walk through. I obliged apprehensively, walking in timid steps and taking a seat in the chair on the far side of the room.

"You know, you look like you're about to faint," she said, a laid-back smile adorning her face as she sat down in the chair across from me. "Relax, I won't bite."

"S-sorry," I stuttered out, inwardly cursing myself. "It's just that… I never thought I would see you in person, let alone talk to you like this."

"What do you mean?" she queried, cocking her head to the side curiously.

"W-well, I mean…" I just couldn't find the right words. After several seconds of silence, I decided to just tell the truth, clenching my eyes tightly as I blurted out, "You were the reason that I decided to work to become a clearer!"

"Why?"

Her response came almost immediately. She sounded dumbfounded, as if she couldn't comprehend my statement.

"What do you mean, 'why?'" I matched her shocked tone with one of equal volume and fervor, opening my eyes to meet her widened gray irises. "You're amazing! You saved so many people! You fought a floor boss all by yourself and _won_! You're an inspiration to all the players!"

"But, you know," her expression changed to one of painful recollection as she cast her gaze to the ground, a rueful smile on her face. "For everyone I've saved, there are also those I failed to save. I'm no hero."

I could somehow tell she was reliving something terrible. I desperately wanted to ease her pain, but I couldn't think of anything to say. I racked my brain for something, anything I could say to comfort her.

"I think…" I started, unsure of where I was going to take my words. "I think no one can save everyone. But the fact that you've saved even a few is something special, if you ask me."

The silence that filled the room following my words of attempted comfort was stifling. Kiriko looked as if she were in deep thought, her expression otherwise unreadable. I couldn't tell if she was still sad, or if my words had helped any at all.

Then, finally, she looked up at me, a bright, genuine smile adorning her face. "You know what? You're right."

My breath caught as I looked at her happy gaze. With a smile such as that on her face, her already-stunning beauty increased tenfold. I was lucky that one didn't need oxygen in SAO, because I was left utterly breathless in her shining presence.

Then, without any warning, Kiriko got up, offering a hand to me. "Well, we should probably get back to the meeting room before Argo chews our heads off. I think she's already mad at me, so I don't want to push my luck."

I tentatively took the proffered hand, allowing her to pull me up while I tried not to think about the gentle softness of her grasp. After I recovered from my daze, I remembered something important.

"Wait, didn't you want to ask me questions about what happened last night?"

I tried to ignore the feeling of missing her hand immediately after it left mine. Instead, I chose to focus on what she said next.

"Oh, that? I just needed an excuse to get you alone, and that was what I came up with on the spot. Call it a 'personal initiation', if you will. I just wanted to assess your character, see what the real you is like."

I followed her out of the room in a daze. Kiriko really was a mystery – she got me alone under the pretense of interrogation just to judge me as a new member of the clearing group? But what was the point of that, anyway? I had just started, and she was one of the strongest, a part of the inner circle. We wouldn't see each other that much, let alone interact.

So why did she care?

* * *

Sometimes, my acting abilities frightened even myself with their level of effectiveness. I went into that meeting room with a healthy yet powerful fear that she would see similarities between my normal voice and the lowered voice I forced myself to use when on night raids as the «Killer of Killers». And yet, even so, I performed like a professional actor – I showed no nervousness or fear whatsoever, and somehow exuded the opposite.

Although, her revealed motivations for becoming part of the lead group were a bit surprising, to say the least. I knew my «Speed of Light» persona was fairly well-known, but I had no idea it actually had a good reputation on the lower floors. After all, my fellow clearers didn't exactly have the highest opinions of me. I rarely showed up at the meetings, yet I always appeared for boss raids and showed them all up by almost always getting the «Last Attack Bonus».

Really, most of the front-liners considered it an amazing achievement just to beat me by getting the LA, even though I don't really try that hard to get it. I just stay on the boss for most of the fight, drop back towards the end to rest and heal up, then come back in for the final stretch of its health and unleash one powerful skill after another until it goes down. It's not that hard to do, really, especially as a solo player who doesn't have any party members to look after.

And that's not the end of it. There were many more reasons that the clearers, sans Argo and a few others, all seemed to hold a certain degree of animosity for me, but that's not really the point here, so I'll move on.

When this girl tried to comfort me by pointing out that saving anyone is special, I almost broke down crying. I had never thought of it that way, and to be told so by someone whom I almost killed the night before was a shock to my system.

But even so, not one of my thoughts in response was negative. It was quite mysterious how this girl I barely knew could nearly unravel me and still make me feel happier than I had in months in the same couple of minutes.

It was that moment that I decided I needed this girl, my blue-haired savior, to be by my side. She evoked long-lost emotions and yet calmed me at the same time. She steered me away from my road to insanity that I had traveled for so long.

As we walked through the hallways of the «Thousand Eyes» central headquarters, I realized that I had neglected to learn one very important thing. "Hey, I do have one question for you, though," I said as I swiveled around to face her, beginning to walk backwards to keep pace.

"W-what is it?" She still seemed nervous around me, it seemed. I would have to fix that if I wanted to be around her more, but, first things first.

"What's your name?" I asked her, the gentle smile on my face doing its best to convey that I meant her no harm. "You're part of the clearing group now, and I can't just keep saying, 'Hey, you,' every time I want your attention."

Her cheeks gained a pink hue, and I quickly realized that what I said could be interpreted many ways. I opened my mouth to clarify, but before I could, she stuttered out an answer to my original question.

"M-my name is Sinon!"

Despite my best efforts to keep it in my head, I found myself whispering, "Cute," as she kept her eyes shut tight in nervousness. Thankfully, it seemed she didn't hear me.

"Well, then, Sinon," I started, my lack of honorifics grabbing her attention (though I personally thought that using honorifics on an in-game name was pointless) enough for her to open her eyes and look at me. I smiled, saying one last thing as I turned back around and started walking forward with a bright smile – the brightest I had worn in months.

"I have a feeling we'll become good friends!"

* * *

**Author's Note**

**Other than the obligatory review request, I said most of what I wanted to say up at the top note. I suppose I should note that the next few chapters might be considerably lighter than chapter one. Probably more around this level, if a bit less emotional. Not sure about any of that, though, as I haven't planned very much of this story out. Long story short: I have no idea what I'm doing.**

**Anyway, what do you think? I'm not sure how I did, honestly, but I think that this chapter surpasses chapter one in terms of expressiveness. Of course, this is discounting the action scenes of last chapter, since I hold the firm opinion that those are some of the best I've done, even up to now.**

**I guess I should apologize for the shorter length, but I honestly think that the quality makes up for it. And as for the POV switching, just think that after every line break, it will be a different character doing the narration. That should simplify things, if only a little.**

**Well, wish me luck on actually continuing on something past chapter two for once!**

**See you later!**


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